The media continually bombard us with the idea that fat consumption is detrimental to our health, as it increases our risk of cardiovascular disease due to increased cholesterol.
In this way, fat has always been seen as the main enemy of our diet and has been rejected by most people, but the truth is that it is an essential macronutrient and is not as dangerous as it is wanted to be seen.
However, many people, including those who train with weights, tend to include ketogenic diets in their diet program in order to lose more body fat. Learn how to train if you decide to follow a ketogenic diet .
What is a ketogenic diet?
First of all, you must bear in mind that not all individuals need the same type of diet, that is, the calories of an elite athlete will not be the same as those of a householder. For this reason, the diet must be carried out taking into account numerous factors, such as age, the level of activity carried out by the subject and gender, among others.
The ketogenic diet is based mainly on the consumption of fat and protein, reducing the intake of carbohydrates, so that in this way the body uses the accumulated fat as the main source of energy. That is, it tries to displace energy production by using glucose to use ketones and fatty acids that generate much less waste when used than other energy sources.
For this to occur, carbohydrate intake must be reduced to a minimum so that the body uses glycogen stores and, once depleted, can only produce energy through fat.
One of the fastest ways to enter ketosis is to do a prolonged fast, some authors even speak of prolonging it around 24 hours, but the truth is that this can produce some undesirable effects on our body such as headaches and mood swings, among others.
How do you know that you have entered ketosis?
Measuring if we are in a state of ketosis is very simple. For this we need to know the number of ketones we have in our blood. For this, we usually speak of a minimum value of ketones in the blood. In this case, the value must be 0.5 millimoles.
With this we must be careful, since safety values are recommended that once exceeded can cause damage to our body. It is advisable to walk at most between 1 and 3 millimoles and never exceed the highest data so that our entry into ketosis is not dangerous .
The easiest and fastest way to control our ketone values is with ketone strips that you can find in any pharmacy, in which you only have to urinate. Depending on the color that this band adopts, it will indicate one ketosis value or another.
Can you train strength and hypertrophy in ketosis?
The theory of the need for carbohydrates to exercise both before and after exercise is well known to all, so thinking that you can train without ingesting carbohydrates may seem far-fetched. But the truth is that the body has several sources of energy and that it can use fat for fuel, as mentioned before.
When we do strength exercises, the use of creatine comes into play, so it could be a good option to take a supplement of it in this phase.
Beyond the loss of muscle mass, a study by the Department of Sports Health Medicine , Jungwon of Jungwon University, in Korea, shows that in the period of ketosis, aerobic capacity is not altered , and that strength is not worsened by what can be maintained or even increased.
Finally, in relation to bodybuilding in ketosis , we can point out that ketones can become anti-catabolic . This means that they can help stop the loss of muscle mass, so you should not be afraid of the loss of muscle mass in this period.
Conclution
You should eliminate the “forbidden food” label that is usually put on fats and learn to differentiate the origin of these fats, since not all of them are equally unhealthy. However, if you opt for a different lifestyle and follow a ketogenic diet, first of all you should take into account the calorie intake you need according to your level of life and physical activity and then evaluate the pros and cons that you can provide this type of diet.
If you should know that the ketogenic diet is not recommended for beginners in the world of fitness since equal or greater benefits have been shown with a balanced diet.
Reference
- Graham, Josh. Nutritional Ketosis For Strength Training. For Breakingmuscle. ⌊Revised December 2016⌋.
